Picture Books

Nana Akua Goes to School by Tricia Elam Walker

| Tasha

Nana Akua Goes to School by Tricia Elam Walker

Nana Akua Goes to School by Tricia Elam Walker, illustrated by April Harrison (9780525581130)

When Zura’s teacher announces that next Monday is Grandparent’s Day, Zura isn’t as enthusiastic as her classmates about her grandmother visiting the class. Her grandmother, Nana Akua, is one of her favorite people on earth, but Zura was worried that the other children and families might laugh or be mean. Her grandmother looks different than most people in the United States. She has marks on her face representing her tribal family as well as beauty and confidence. When Zura admits to being worried for her grandmother, the two work together on a plan which involves bringing Zura’s quilt with its Adinkra symbols from Ghana. Monday arrives quickly and several other grandparents do their presentations. Zura introduces her grandmother who explains the marks on her face and the important tradition they represent. Then it’s the class’ turn to do their own marks in removable makeup.

Walker explains in her author’s note how she learned about the Adinkra symbols and the tradition of facial marks in Ghana. She uses these elements to tell the universal story of children of color whose parents or grandparents immigrated from another country and whose culture carries through in stories and traditions to the present day. Walker shows how such visible differences can cause pain and worries but also how they serve as a bridge to a deeper understanding as long as we take the time to listen and learn.

Harrison’s art is beautiful. She fills Zura’s classroom with children from a variety of races and cultures. She uses patterns and colors, almost creating the effect of stained glass on the page. The faces of her characters shine, sometimes looking right at the reader, as Nana Akua does when explaining her marks.

A celebration of diversity that show how openness to being different creates community. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Schwartz & Wade.

In My Garden by Charlotte Zolotow

| Tasha

In My Garden by Charlotte Zolotow

In My Garden by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Philip Stead (9780823443208)

Explore the seasons in a personal and close up way with master storyteller Zolotow. Originally published in 1960, the story has been updated with new illustrations from award-winner Stead. Each season starts with one thing that the narrator loves best about their garden during that time. But then they also include a bunch of other lovely things about their garden that season. In spring, the favorite is birds building nests. In summer it is roses. In fall it is chrysanthemums. In winter it is snow. But there is so much else to love too, mostly centered around a lovely pear tree in the garden too.

Zolotow’s writing is lovely, exploring the seasons in a round-about way through gardening and time spent outside. The book meanders with a sense of curiosity about what might also be lovely about the garden in each season. The exploratory nature of the text invites conversations with children about their own loves in each season.

Stead’s illustrations are dreamy and lovely. The colors are bright but also flow together creating a world to experience, remember and adore. His process creates an organic feel with fine lines that offer details but are also filled with blurs of color and cloud shapes.

A lovely new edition of a beauty of a book. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Neal Porter Books.

Rot: The Bravest in the World by Ben Clanton

| Tasha

Rot The Bravest in the World by Ben Clanton

Rot: The Bravest in the World by Ben Clanton (9781481467643)

This follow-up to Rot: The Cutest in the World is a squirmy, squelchy, muddy read. Rot is a mutant potato and just like all mutant potatoes, he loves mud. They play in it, eat it, even sleep in mud. So when Rot found a massive mud pit, he couldn’t wait to jump right in. But before he can, his older brother Snot tells him to watch out for the Squirm, a monster that lives in deep mud, slimy and gross and hungry! Snot leaves laughing, but Rot is not deterred. He just needs a good plan. Perhaps a superhero costume will make him brave enough? When that wasn’t enough, he adds a knight costume on top, but even that doesn’t work. Perhaps adding something that loves mud too? Soon Rot is dressed up as “Sir Super Rot, the Pigtato!” When he goes back to the puddle, he discovers that there is something squirmy in the mud. Will he be brave enough to find out what it is?

Clanton imbues his picture book with a marvelous sense of humor from beginning to end. At the same time he has created a picture book with a strong story arc with Rot as a central compelling character that children will root for. When he begins to put on costumes to make himself more brave, the humor is there but also a strong sense of empathy for this courageous potato.

As with the first book, the art is bold. It is filled with rich potato and mud browns. The handwritten dialogue is shown in bubbles that look like potatoes too. Keep an eye out for the little pink insect who follows Rot on his adventures.

Squidgy and muddy fun. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy provided by Atheneum.

Papa Brings Me the World by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw

| Tasha

Papa Brings Me the World by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw

Papa Brings Me the World by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw (9781250159250)

Lulu’s papa travels for a living. When he is about to leave, she tucks notes into his pocket to remind him of her love. In his work as a photojournalist, her papa climbs mountains, swims in oceans, rides camels, and explores the world. He brings Lulu items from his travels like coins from 28 countries. Lulu longs to join him on his travels, but instead she follows his journeys with her mother, using a map on the wall. Sometimes Papa has to miss big events because he is gone, but he always returns. In fact, on his next trip Lulu finally gets to travel along and fill her own journal with her experiences.

In her author’s note at the end of the book, the author speaks of her own childhood growing up in a family with a father whose work took him around the world. Her deep understanding of the mixture of sorrow, pride and longing that the young protagonist feels makes this book all the more poignant and impactful. Her art is done in mixed media, including collage, pencil, acrylics and stamping. The illustrations are rich and layered, offering a glimpse into the life of this busy multiracial family.

A warm and loving look at a father who has a job unlike regular parents. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy provided by Henry Holt and Company.

Hello, Little One: A Monarch Butterfly Story by Zeena M. Pliska

| Tasha

Hello, Little One A Monarch Butterfly Story by Zeena M. Pliska

Hello, Little One: A Monarch Butterfly Story by Zeena M. Pliska, illustrated by Fiona Halliday (9781624149313)

Caterpillar’s entire world is filled with green after he leaves his egg. Then something orange arrives, soaring high above. Caterpillar calls out to the flying orange thing, but it doesn’t stop. Later, Orange lands nearby to sip nectar from a flower. Caterpillar is eating a leaf nearby. The two spend time together, Orange talking about how they used to feel as a caterpillar and Caterpillar longing to be more like Orange someday. Orange tells all sorts of stories of the things they have seen as they fly. Soon it is time for Caterpillar to form their chrysalis. Orange explains that they won’t be here when Caterpillar emerges. Once caterpillar emerges, they too are a monarch butterfly and are ready to inspire another tiny caterpillar on their journey.

Pliska writes with a tenderness in this picture book. Her words look at the wonder of a new world filled with green leaves and the promise of eventual flight. She creates a natural connection between the two characters who clearly enjoy their shared company. The beauty of the change from caterpillar to butterfly plays out against the sadness of Orange  not being there. These quiet and aching moments create quite a special book.

The illustrations in this book are done in traditional and digital mixed media. The colors are so vivid and deep. They are large enough to work well with a group, focusing on the bright colors of the caterpillar and butterfly and also the greens and blues of their surroundings.

A marvelous book about butterflies, their life cycle and the circle of life. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy provided by Page Street Kids.

 

The Little Blue Cottage by Kelly Jordan

| Tasha

The Little Blue Cottage by Kelly Jordan

The Little Blue Cottage by Kelly Jordan, illustrated by Jessica Courtney-Tickle (9781624149238)

The little blue cottage on the bay waited patiently every year for the little girl to return. She came with the warmer weather, taking up her place in the window seat and looking out at the water. The cottage was her favorite place, filled with dolphins, seagulls, swimming and boats. When fall came, the little girl and her family left once again, leaving the cottage to face winter. Still, summer came each year and the girl arrived, growing ever bigger. Eventually though, she and the family stopped coming, leaving the blue cottage to fade to gray, empty and waiting for years. Then one day, the girl, now a mother, returned to her beloved cottage to repair it, repaint it a merry blue, and live in it once more.

Jordan’s text invites readers to really experience the seasonality of cottage life. She uses near rhymes and natural rhythms to share both the joy and loneliness of the cottage that mirrors the emotions of the humans in the story as well. The long seasons of neglect have a quiet dignity to them, while the triumphant return is a marvelous ending.

The illustrations are detailed and visually interesting. They show the cottage on its own little beach, the beauty of the busyness of the family and the light they bring with them. The growing weeds and fading paint are particularly well done. The family is multicultural, adding to the book’s appeal.

Just right for vacation reading, this one will have you dreaming of a cottage on the water. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy provided by Page Street Kids.

Llama Unleashes the Alpacalypse by Johnathan Stutzman

| Tasha

Llama Unleashes the Alpacalypse by Johnathan Stutzman

Llama Unleashes the Alpacalypse by Johnathan Stutzman, illustrated by Heather Fox (9781250222855)

Llama continues on his path of scientific exploration and world destruction in this second picture book in the series following Llama Destroys the World. The book opens with the promise that by dinner Llama will have unleashed a great alpacalypse upon the world. Breakfast comes first but Llama makes an awful mess making a balanced meal. He hates to clean up, so he turns to inventing a new solution, a dangerous one, a Replicator 3000. At lunch, Llama invites Alpaca over. Alpaca loves to clean and soon is inside the replicator. With a zoop, she is replicated, but then Llama continues to push the button, creating an army of cleaning alpacas set to clean the world. As they leave Llama’s house and head out, dinnertime arrives. Disaster near, but a clever plan involving great pizza may be enough to save us all, until dessert.

I adored the first book in this series which had plenty of humor and lots of science. This second book has a lot to love too. It has less science but continues with the wild humor of the first, offering plenty of clever noises, rather clueless characters, and dangerous but exhilarating science experiments.

Fox’s art adds to much to the book with her googly-eyed Llama and Alpaca, the merrily cleaning army, and the alarmed citizens. Swirls of toilet paper, wet mop paths, and spritzes of cleaner make this just right for our pandemic sensibilities too.

One joyous mess of a picture book. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy provided by Henry, Holt and Company.

 

You Matter by Christian Robinson

| Tasha

You Matter by Christian Robinson

You Matter by Christian Robinson (9781534421691)

Master picture book author and illustrator Robinson returns with a book just right for our pandemic situation. The book moves in a complete circle, beginning and ending with the same phrases. It starts with the importance of things that are too small to see with the naked eye. The book expresses that you matter whether you are first or last, go with the flow or go your own way. You matter if you fall down, if others are too busy to help, or even if you have to start all over again. You matter if you are far from home and feel alone. Whatever your age, you matter.

This picture book demands that readers see themselves as vital and important in their world regardless of status, situation or mood. It insists from a deep and powerful place that everyone matters, with no caveats at all. Robinson’s warmth exudes from the page even with such simple language and brief lines. That works to make this book accessible to even the youngest of children.

The art is great, adding humor to the book as one part focuses on mosquitoes and dinosaurs, comets and restarting the entire world. It also embraces diversity, showing people of different races, faiths and abilities.

An anthem for all of us to hold in our hearts. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy provided by Atheneum.

Oil by Jonah Winter

| Tasha

Oil by Jonah Winter

Oil by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Jeanette Winter (9781534430778)

This nonfiction picture book offer a devastating look at the oil spill caused by the Exxon Valdez. The book begins with the Trans-Alaska Pipeway that carries oil to the ocean. It’s surrounded by wilderness and the animals who live there. The oil is then transferred to ships, and one of the those ships had an accident in the clear water when it ran aground on a reef. From there, the oil spreads, turning the water and waves black, covering the rocks on the shore. Hurting the wildlife who call the place home. People try to help, but even thirty years later so many things are different, changes caused by the destruction of an ecosystem and environment.

The Winter mother-son duo have crafted yet another compelling picture book about a complex nonfiction topic. Jonah’s text uses powerful repeating choruses of “oil” that is almost like a drum beat of emphasis. He uses other techniques of repetition and design that speed or slow the reading of the text very effectively. The book is a mixture of tragedy and a call to action.

Jeanette’s illustrations are in her signature simple style. They work particularly well here to emphasize the impact of the oil spill, steadily covering the pages with seeping blackness. Some pages are left without words, just allowing the reader to soak in the horror of what is happening.

Powerful and tragic, this picture book is an important addition for libraries. Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from copy provided by Beach Lane Books.